You said, we did

You Said, We Did - Cycle Movement Strategy Phase 2: Harrow Road Informal Public Consultation

Introduction

Westminster City Council is proposing a cycling improvement project on Harrow Road to build on and enhance a previous temporary scheme implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is to improve cycling safety and routes in the local and surrounding areas. As part of the overarching North Paddington High Streets Programme, the ‘Harrow Road Corridor’ strategy builds on the success of the temporary cycling measures previous installed. If the project secures funding and community buy-in, the 'Harrow Road Corridor' will deliver improvements to the footways, cycleways and carriageways along Harrow Road.

Following strong public support in December 2021 for making the temporary scheme permanent, the council commissioned FM Conway to design the proposed improvements. Key features of the plan include:

A consultation on the design was conducted from May 7th to May 28th, 2024. Proposals were shared with 187 official consultees via email and 4,867 properties through a letter drop, ensuring broad coverage. This also included additional widening where new road layouts were proposed on Bravington Road and Second Avenue. The consultation included plans divided into three sections of Harrow Road to help respondents focus on the areas most relevant to them. 

This report summarizes the consultation results and offers recommendations for the next design phase if the project proceeds.

Consultation Results

Commonplace contained a survey that sought people’s views on what effect the proposals will have on the way people choose to travel with an option to comment. Consultees were provided with 3 sets of consultation plans, each plan covering a section of the scheme extents of Harrow Road: 

• Section 1: Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Avenue
• Section 2: Elgin Avenue to Lord Hills Bridge
• Section 3: Lord Hills Bridge to Edgware Road

70% of all responses indicated the proposals will encourage ‘a lot more’ or ‘a few more people’ to travel by cycling. Extracting the underlying themes of the responses via the open text comments provided a stronger understanding of concerns and suggestions raised from the public consultation. This allows the Council to address the concerns and progress the scheme in an informed and targeted way.  

Next Steps

Subject to a decision to proceed by Cabinet Member for city Management and air Quality.

• Detailed design will be carried out in October 2024, to amend the scheme proposal based on consultation feedback.
• A statutory Traffic Management Order (TMO) consultation is anticipated to be carried out in November 2024 for a duration of 3 weeks, subject to the Cabinet Member's decision to proceed.
• Construction on site to take place in early 2025.